Category: Invited guests

Chairman of Centaurus Capital, a private investment management company he founded in 2000. Centaurus Capital is located in London and Hong Kong, and invests in Europe, Asia and the emerging markets. Bernard Oppetit is a Director of Natixis, and of Tigers Alliance (Vietnam), he sits on the Supervisory Board of HLD and the Advisory Board at Ondra Partners. He joined Paribas in Paris in 1979 where he served as Global Head of Equity Derivatives in London (1995-2000) and then Head of Risk Arbitrage at BNP Paribas in London. He graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

G8 Sherpa, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. Among various positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, he was appointed as the Minister for Economic Affairs of the Embassy of Japan to France, the Director-General for African Affairs and as the Director-General of Economic Affairs Bureau.

Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), Morocco. He is an economist, with a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris (1968). He was Mayor of Rabat (2009-2015), Minister of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco (1998-2008), Member of the Moroccan Parliament (1977-2002), President of the National Union of Students of Morocco (UNEM) (1966-1968). He has also been a University Professor, Chairman of the Association of Moroccan Economists (AEM) and of the Union of Arab Economists. He has authored many papers on economic theory, financial policy, international economic relations, with a focus on the Euro-Afro-Mediterranean area. La mondialisation et la pandémie. Chroniques de confinement (2021. PCNS. Rabat), La mondialisation et nous (2020. Ed. La Croisée des Chemins. Casablanca), La Chine et nous (2017. Ed. La Croisée des Chemins. Casablanca) are among his latest publications.

Former Chairman for Europe of Promontory Financial Group and President of Notre Europe. He was Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy, Chairman of the Trustees of the IASC Foundation and member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. After having been General Director for Economic and Financial Affairs at the Commission of the European Communities, he has been Joint Secretary to the Delors Committee. He graduated from the Luigi Bocconi University and has a MSc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

International affairs Editor of the Financial Times, he is also an associate Editor, responsible for leader and feature writing. Working at the FT since 1975, he served successively as southern Africa correspondent, Africa Editor, European Community correspondent and Brussels bureau Chief, Moscow correspondent and chief correspondent in Germany. On his return to London, he became foreign Editor. He was educated at Queen’s College, Cambridge, where he studied Economics with French and German.

Chief Executive Officer, EFG Bank European Financial Group SA. He is a member of the Board of Directors of EFG International and of EFG Bank AG. He is also a member of the Board of various subsidiaries of EFG Group. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and General Secretary of Banque de Dépôts, Geneva. He also worked for the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zurich (1978-1980). He holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics and a post-graduate degree in Industrial and Management Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

CEO, Alma Consultance. Former Vice President, International and Marketing, Areva France. After holding many diplomatic posts with the United Nations in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East, he became an Advisor to former Foreign Minister Hubert Védrine, for North African, Middle East and United Nations Affairs. After serving as French Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, he joined, for the second time, the French mission to the United Nations as Political Counsellor. In late 2005, he became Deputy Director, Far East Asia, responsible for bilateral relations between France and North-East Asian countries. A graduate of IEP-Paris and the Institute of Asian Languages and Civilisations, he won the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s “Cadre Orient” competition, Asian Division (Chinese, Vietnamese).

Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, USA. Founder and President of Human Rights First, he has been at the forefront of the international human rights movement for 30 years. Previously, he was a lawyer with Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago, a lecturer at Yale Law School and a visiting lecturer at Columbia Law School. A member of the California Bar and the Illinois Bar, he received his JD from the University of California, Berkeley Law School and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Former President of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Active in the Catalan autonomy movement from a very young age, he founded the political party Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya (CDC) in 1974. In May 1980, he became the 126th Head of Catalan’s autonomous government (President of the Generalitat). After 23 years in power, he gradually retired from political life after the 2003 elections. He still serves as President of the CiU and CDC. He earned a medical degree from the University of Barcelona and has received honorary doctorates from several French-language universities, including Lumière Lyon II, Paris VIII, Toulouse and the Catholic University of Brussels.

Director, Institute of Contemporary International Studies, Diplomatic Academy in Moscow. He was Foreign Policy Advisor and Speech-writer to the General Secretary Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, Deputy Editor-in-chief, Moskovskie Novosti (Moscow news) and Deputy Director-General, Public and Media Relations, Russian Public TV. Since April 1998, he has been holding various positions, among which Fellow and member, World Economic Forum in Davos Executive Board; Editorial Board “National Interest,” Washington, DC; Political Commentator “Voice of Russia,” Moscow and member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London. He received a PhD in History and International Relations at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

Algeria’s Minister of Urban and Rural Development, the Environment and Tourism. He previously held the following positions: Minister of Youth and Sports; Minister of Equipment; Minister on special assignment in charge of administering the Algiers Wilaya; Minister-Governor of Greater Algiers; and Minister of Urban and Rural Development and the Environment. He graduated from Algeria’s École nationale d’administration and received a PhD in Urban and Rural Development from the University of Poitiers in France.

Professor at the Hassan II University of Casablanca and at Sciences-Po, Aix-en-Provence, France. Researcher at the Mediterranean Laboratory of Sociology (Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme) and Director of the Centre marocain des sciences sociales de l’Université Hassan II, he is also Visiting Professor at New York University, Sciences-Po Paris, Université autonome de Madrid, and University of Venezia. He works as an expert for many institutions like the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies, the World Bank, etc. He is the author of Monarchie et Islam politique, Presses de Sciences-Po.

Co-founder of Bruegel in Brussels in 2002-2005, joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC in 2009, and is currently employed on equal terms by both organizations as a Senior Fellow. His research is primarily about financial systems and financial services policies, with a main geographical focus on Europe. A graduate of France’s École Polytechnique and École des mines, his earlier experience includes senior positions in the French government and private sector in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is also an independent board member of the global derivatives trade repository arm of DTCC, a financial infrastructure company that operates on a non-profit basis. In September 2012, Bloomberg Markets included Véron in its yearly global “50 Most Influential” list with reference to his early advocacy of European banking union.

Director, Center for Applied Policy Research, Munich, he holds the Chair of Political Systems and European Integration at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University. He was Professeur associé at the Sorbonne in Paris and worked for the German government as Coordinator for German-American Cooperation. He edits the journal International Politik and is a member of the Board of the German Society for Foreign Affairs (DGAP) in Berlin, of the Institute for European Policy in Bonn and of the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh. Graduation as PhD and habilitation in political sciences.

Head Corporate Affairs and Executive member of Novartis. After having started his career with McKinsey and Co., Switzerland, as a Partner and Senior Partner, he was, at Crédit Suisse, a member of the Group Executive Board, initially responsible for the Group’s insurance business before becoming CEO of the Financial Services Division. He graduated with a PhD in Systems Engineering and a MS in Chemical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. He also holds a MBA from the University of Zurich.

He began his career in the UK working in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords as a political advisor before moving to Brussels to take up a post in the European Parliament. He later joined Burson-Marsteller providing public affairs support to business, NGO’s and political groups in Brussels, London and San Francisco. He also held public affairs and corporate responsibility for Europe, Middle East and North Africa for BHP Billiton, the world’s largest Mining Group.

Senior Advisor at Lee International IP & Law Group. Previously, he held the position of President of the Korea Foundation (2007-2010). He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974 and served, among others, as Korean Ambassador to Canada (2004-2007) and Egypt (1996-1999). In 2001, he was Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and in 2002, he was appointed as the National Security Advisor to President Kim Dae-jung. He formerly co-chaired the Korea-Canada Forum. He graduated from Seoul National University, Oxford University and Keio University.

Former president of the Swiss Confederation

Former President of the Lebanese Republic

Member of the United Nations International Law Commission (2012-2016) where he is a Special Rapporteur on the Provisional Application of Treaties. He has been a member of the Mexican Foreign Service since 1988. Former Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of Mexico (2006-2015). Formerly, he served as Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United States (2004-2006), Legal Counsellor of the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry (2000-2004) and as Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (1998-2000). He graduated in Law from the University Paris I and the University Paris X and in International Relations from the Institut d’Études Politiques of Paris.

Former Secretary-General of NATO

Fourth President of Estonia. He is a former Diplomat and Journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (Estonia) in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament. He was elected to the post by an electoral college on 23 September 2006 and his term as President began on 9 October 2006. He grew up in the United States and graduated from Leonia High School in Leonia, New Jersey in 1972 as Valedictorian. He received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Columbia College of Columbia University and a master’s degree in the same subject from the University of Pennsylvania.

Honorary President of Notre Europe-Jacques Delors Institute. Former Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) (2005-2013). He began his career in the French civil service at the Inspection générale des finances and at the Treasury. He was Chief of staff for the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, and his representative as Sherpa in the G7 (1985-1994). He served as CEO of the bank Credit Lyonnais until its privatization in 1999. He served as Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission (1999-2004). He holds degrees from the Paris based École des hautes études commerciales (HEC), from the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) and from the École nationale d’administration (ENA).

Prime Minister of the Federation of Russia since 2012. Former President of the Federation of Russia.

Former President of Croatia.

Former Prime minister of the Republic of Kenya.

MP, Minister for Lands of the Republic of Kenya

Former President of the European Parliament

Chairman Emeritus of the Institute for Global Economics, former Minister of Finance of the Republic of Korea (1987-1988). He held several key positions in the Korean government including Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Affairs (1983-1987), Ambassador for International Economy and Trade (2000-2002), Special Economic Advisor to the President (2008-2009) and Chairman of the Presidential Committee for the 2010 G20 Summit (2009-2011). He also served as Special Consultant to the International Monetary Fund (1989-1992) and Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (2009-2012). He taught economics at New York University (1969-1973). Dr. SaKong graduated from Seoul National University (1964) and received his Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of California in Los Angeles.

Former President of the French Republic